Setting - Canada
Renowned as a land of peace, order, and good government, the heroic heritage of the people of the north is long standing and undeniable. While Canada has long lay under the shadow cast by its southern neighbor, the heroes (and villains) of this land believe they are second to none, and certainly do not lack opportunities to prove themselves against the many dangers of the true north, strong but beleaguered. The native Canadian attitude toward paragons is more welcoming than parts of the United States, and UNISON--the Canadian PRA--operates with fewer restrictions than its southern cousin. The Canadian government frowns on foreign superheroes operating on their soil without authorization, especially those who use weapons (given their lack of respect for Canadian firearm regulations) and disapproves of paragons setting up private enclaves, believing they attract violence. On the other hand, in keeping with its socially progressive tradition, Canada is very accepting of extraterrestrial and extradimensional refugees than the United States. Most of the provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms apply to Non-Earth refugees. In general, "freaks" face fewer prejudices on Canadian soil, and many have come to see it as a safe haven. Canadian superheroes often eschew gaudy costumes and flashy identities for plain clothes and codenames, which mix real names with a bit of the fantastic. Canada's heroes tend to lean more toward Indiana Jones and Tintin than Batman. Quebec Throughout Quebec, particularly in times of struggle and strife, a ghostly cathedral has appeared on a hill outside various communities. Its melancholy bell strikes a note of doom, drawing visitors against their better judgement, and many who enter its beautiful stained glass doors do not return. This is la Cathedrale de la Douleur, "the Cathedral of Pain", built in the 18th century in Quebec City. Originally just a beautiful church, it became infamous as a center of cruelty by the sinister "Souer Madeline" in the early 19th century, who used it as the center of a brutal cult. Destroyed by champions of the church in 1808, Soeur Madame vowed that even death would not stop her campaign to purify Canada of its sins, and she's made good on that vow ever since. The Cathedral has played a key role in the lives of two of Quebec's most prominent paragons. Alouette, the leader of La Ligue des Heros du Quebec (LHQ) was captured as a young girl on the day of the Event and raised by the Sisters of Severity in their spacially-displaced, alternate dimension until she was fifteen. Another child victim, Pierre Legault, was also captured by the cathedral. The two escaped together and found that they both possessed incredible powers. But Pierre, embittered and broken by his experiences in the cathedral, chose a different path and became the shadowy Malfaiteur, the leader of Quebec's supervillain community. The LHQ has, as a group, vowed to shut down the Cathedral. La Ligue des Heros du Quebec The LHQ was founded in 2007, formed by the Provincial government to help keep its people safe. Its members consist of Alouette, a speedster; Monument, a powerhouse; Alain Adventure, a gadgeteer; and Merveille D'hiver (or Winter Wonder), an energy projector/elementalist with cold-based powers. Tronik, the Cyber-City In 2014, LHQ responded to strange reports of floating "satellites" orbiting the city of Tronik, in northern Quebec. The team responded and found the Curator; the alien computer intelligence dedicated to "saving" cultures and civilizations across the multiverse in anticipation of "a coming Doom unlike anything ever seen, an evil so vast only I and others like me will be able to survive". He claimed that he wanted to save the city, for "only in destruction can they be saved". Despite the team's best efforts, the vast engines in the sky activated and the Curator "saved" the human inhabitants of Tronik by digitizing the memories and intellects of the entire population of the city of Tronik. Millions of people were reduced to optical data stored in an advanced, compact computer simulation of their previous environment. LHQ rescued the Troniks from unending stasis, but had no means to physically restore them, so they kept the storage module for their data; an alien computer the size of a briefcase, in their headquarters, running continuously. The Troniks are unaware of the true nature of their existence, and Alouette has chosen not to tell them, out of concern for the psychological harm it could cause, to know they were no longer "real", just virtual copies of real people. The virtual world in which they live is such a perfect simulation that the inhabitants think that they escaped the Curator's cataclysm. A virtual reality interface developed by Protocol allows LHQ to visit Tronik, and Alain Adventure maintains a "secret identity" there. Visits to Tronik is risky simply because the rules of the virtual environment prevent any superpowers from functioning, so visitor are effectively normal humans. Despite the fact that Tronik isn't "real", biofeedback from the virtual system can induce fatal shock and other damage to visitors, so threats there are more than real enough to outsiders. The Mad Maple Canada's most notorious supervillain is the Mad Maple. Known for his nationalism, formidable weather-based powers, prolific output of letters to the editors of various magazines, obsession with fonts, and a "death to America" attitude that makes most zealots look warm and fuzzy by comparison, the mad one is Canada's poster-child for villainy. For a fourteen years, the Mad Maple has embarked on one ill-advised scheme after another to bring down the United States. He hired a mad scientist to construct a hysteria ray and aimed it at the CNN headquarters. No one noticed. He attempted to kidnap actress Mary Pickford, once called "America's Sweetheart", only to learn she was Canadian (and also dead since 1979). He claims to have had a hand in saturating America's airwaves with Justin Bierber's music in the hopes of breaking the nation's will. That didn't seem to work, either. He tried to dry up America's supply of beer, believing that would force them to turn to Canadian Beer, which he believed was too strong for Americans, which would ultimately lead to the collapse of America's society. That plan failed due to fairly dramatic logistical miscalculations. Even he admits he didn't know what he was thinking when he came up with that one. But still, he keeps on trying. And he never shuts up. Of course, the Mad Maple isn't Canada's only supervillain, but he is the most well known outside of Canada, due to one of his schemes (attacking Niagra Falls with a giant robot that looked like a mounty and an army of storm giants) required the Guardians to team up with the Canucks. Ottawa Canada's capital is the home of the Peace Tower and the Houses of Parliament--among many government institutions, archives, and museums--but for many, the most important thing is that it's also the home of the Bulwark; the HQ of the Canucks, the roughest, toughest, most capable and, some would say, most notorious superheroes north of the 49th parallel. The Canucks The Canucks were founded in 2009, after the revelation of Project Inferno. '''The paragon '''Summit founded the team, and it has continued to function despite a history of internal conflict and upheaval. The current team leader is the exiled storm giant Big Thunder, and includes the mentalist and former beauty pageant winner Miss Canada; the bizarre, shapeshifting, self-styled "queen of the Rougarou" known as Luna; the earth-controlling Labrador Rock; the seemingly invincible Puck; and the super-speedster Christopher Quick. The team is effective, but they have a decidedly un-Canadian reputation as one of the loudest, most trash-talking, most contentious, and brutal superhero groups around. Their relations with the public reflects this: people either love the team as unapologetic bad asses, or hate them with a deep, abiding passion. One Canadian broadcasting company commentator has referred to them as a "team of hockey goons with capes", as well as "Canada's dullest blunt instrument". The group has publicly said that they're proud that the only negotiating tactic they employ is "a good, hard stomp to the bad guys' faces". Their relations with law enforcement are mixed: some RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service personnel openly admire their ability to get things done, while others have had unpleasant experiences when the heroes were involved in delicate operations. Other Canadian Heroes like the LHQ and the Safety Assemblage have little time for the Canucks, and their hardcore nationalism has set them at odds with foreign teams like The Guardians. While based in Ottowa, the Canucks can quickly traverse the country in the "Flying Castle"; a captured, refitted Storm Giant Flying Fortress (literally a castle on a cloud). The highest tower has a painted-on red maple leaf and the Tower is able to blare out loud music for the team to make their entrance. The Canucks are one of the few major superteams to not be officially sponsored by the Canadian government. The entire team is technically wanted by law enforcement, though there are few who would actually try to bring them in. For information on the Canucks, see here. Other Heroes The Canucks aren't the only heroes in Canada's capitol. Mace Michaels is a parliamentary officer permanently stationed on Parliament Hill, using his namesake weapon to protect public figures and dignitaries. The American government also has two superheroes stationed at their embassy; the little-known heroes Vigil (a flying paragon with super-senses) and Castle (a teleporting martial-artist). In addition, Captain Saint-Laurent--a plucky, low-grade paragon who makes his home in nearby Gatineau--frequently patrols the St. Lawrence from Ottawa to New Brunswick. Service Hill The most unusual center of superhuman activity has to be Service Hill, a retirement community and rest home for aged superheroes located in the heart of the Gatineau Hills. It's an assisted living community where aging superheroes and supervillains alike can go to enjoy their final years with quality medical care and dignity. A few of these old folk can still pack a punch, as the Crime League discovered in 2019 when they attempted to kidnap a retired villain from the facility. Toronto Canada's largest city, the fourth largest metropolis in North America, Toronto's importance to the country cannot be understated: it's the center of culture, media, finances, and trade. if you were to take New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles and combine them into one city, that city would be as prominent to the United States as Toronto is to Canada. One in every six Canadians lives in the metropolitan Toronto region. Naturally, the rest of Canada resents its power and status, calling it the "self-styled center of the universe". Toronto is also one of North America's leading centers of paranormal activity. Most of the original heroes from immediately post-Event are gone now (retired or dead), but a new generation have picked up the torch. The Shard Located under a dome near the waterfront and heavily guarded by UNISON forces is an artifact known as The Terminus Shard. It is a giant piece of black metal of unknown composition that plunged into Toronto at the start of the Imperius Invasion, and was the focal point for Imperius' forces in North America. Even two years after Imperius' defeat, the shard still resides there. No one knows if it is a weapon, a recording device, an encased entity, or something else completely, but UNISON has made keeping it from falling into the wrong hands one of their highest priorities. Pawagan, Manitoba In northern Manitoba, there's an empty black circle, about a mile in diameter, in a forest of tamarack trees. This is a mystical phenomenon created centuries ago when the smallpox epidemic that devastated the First Nations was blamed on bad dream spirits. Pawagan is essentially a dream catcher as a geographical feature; from here, spirits visit people across North America, and attempt to lure nightmare away from dreamers, and let them chase them into the circle. Sleepers who've experienced a huge sense of relief when they suddenly wake from a nightmare probably have the spirits of Pawagan protecting them. The circle has been used as a prison for greater dark spirits, so much so that the Guardians call it "Dread Wraith Ground Zero". Unfortunately, the more its used the more strained its wards become, and many of the mightiest spirits are breaking free to torment America. Popogusso the Devouring Abyss is a conglomeration of these escaped spirits, but there are worse to come. The circle might be repaired, but it would require a dangerous vision quest into the heart of the nightmares to hold them at bay while magicians and medicine elders perform the necessary rituals. To make matters worse, Popogusso has attracted the corrupted Thunderbird known as Stormwing, drawing him away from the west coast and allowing him to make his nest in the heart of the circle, which makes the enactment of such a ritual even more difficult. Project Inferno Canada's supposed super-soldier program, based in a secret facility known as "The Ninth Circle" somewhere in the heart of Nunavut, Project Inferno has an infamous history in Canada. The Project is the creation of the demon Croatoan, who plans to create a race of cloned and indoctrinated paragons as an advance force for an invasion by his army of techno-demons. To that end, he possessed a number of officials and set up a cabal of mad scientists who all worked together to create a covert government unit that diverts funds to run the project and achieve their goals. The project was founded in late 2000, not long after the Event, when Croatoan escaped into our world once again. It operated until early 2009, when a group of disparate paragons each individually stumbled upon it and brought the facility down, exposing it to the public. These heroes would go on to found The Canucks. Despite the Canuck's first big win, Project Inferno is rumored to still exist. The Canucks tirelessly hunts Croatoan down, desperate to send him crawling back to Hell. Ellis, the Devil's Own The crowning achievement of Project Inferno is the most unfortunate paragon is history: Ellis, the Devil's Own. He may or may not be a Scottish nobleman who discovered his powers when he was burned at the stake as a warlock in the 16th century. He then fled to America as a member of the Roanoke colony where he fell under the influence of the demon Croatoan. He has spent much of the last eighty years being tortured, vivisected, and cloned while scientists tried to mold him into the perfect weapon, making Ellis' memory and sense of identity tenuous, at best. In addition to superhuman speed, ferocity, and immortality, the Devil's Own can superheat his fingertips, which burn anything he touches, often raking his enemies with trademark burning slashes. He also regenerates slowly, his wounds "burning away"--unless he is also set on fire, in which case he heals even faster, although it still feels like he's burning. The Devil's Own is seen as the "bloodhound" of Croatoan and has fought against the Canucks many times. The Techno-Viking Soren Egilsson, a viking warrior and bold explorer, made a discovery nobody could have imagined--lost amidst the ice floes of the Arctic, Egillsson found the entrance to an alien ruin, long abandoned by any living thing, but still operated by strange machines. He was captured, augmented with alien cybernetics, and has remained preserved beneath the ice for centuries, until climate change began melting it. Soon, the Techno-Viking and the robots molded to his needs were freed upon the world. Isolated by his artificial frame, with his people long since dust, he strikes out, seeking glory and hoping to bring Ragnarok that much closer to end his mad exile. He has already faced and defeated the Canucks, and is currently UNION's #1 most wanted paragon entity. His current whereabouts are unknown. The First Nations Canada's native population constitutes about 2% of its total population (~700,000 of its 35 million inhabitants). The preferred term is First Nations, or aboriginals. Descendants of the original inhabitants of Canada, they live primarily on reserves, spanning every Canadian province and territory. Canada's First Nations population is scattered across cities as well as 600 bands (the favored Canadian term for tribe) that operate local governments on reserves across the country. Despite stereotypes, there is no monolithic First Nations culture: as one should expect, given the vast size of the North American continent, there are many variations in religious beliefs, customs, and culture. For instance, totem poles and potlatches are rarely found outside the coast of British Columbia; the Sun Dance is almost exclusive to Plains First Nations bands, etc. However, there are some broad commonalities between many First Nations cultures. First Nations bands share animistic religions, meaning they believe that nature possesses a spiritual essence. Contrary to popular belief, there are no "shamans" among First Nations people; that word is a foreign term applied to spiritual leaders in First Nations cultures. First Nations bands are more likely to use the terms "Spirit Elder" and "Medicine Elder". Canada's history with its aboriginal population is not as bloody as the United States', but it is anything but sterling. Many reserves suffer from extreme poverty, though others--particularly those with rich resource deposits--are experiencing boom economies. Self-government is a major goal of most First Nations bands. There have been tensions between First Nations bands and Canada's federal and provincial governments, and occasional armed conflicts, and there are many land claim disputes that are still ongoing. Of course, paragons often get caught in the middle. Many skilled and courageous heroes claim First Nations heritage. A council of paragons known as the Assembly of the Spirit Nation has been established to help protect and fight for Canada's native population. Currently led by the extremely powerful New Moon, they are considered a renegade team. Like the Canucks, they are not technically allowed to fight off of reserve boundaries, but the team pays little attention to such restrictions. They go where their people need help, and have little concern for the affairs of other cities or heroes. One of the more powerful villains in Canada, Scarletstorm, also claims First Nations descent. Wendigo, the notorious serial killer, is also First Nations. Today, there is intense debate among First Nations paragons on whether they should adopt historically accurate codenames, or whether the presence of paragons like Steven Sun Bear honors their heritage or plays too heavily into stereotypes. The Aerie Located near the slopes of Mount Mara in Northern Greenland stands the world's great northern refuge. Hidden atop impassable cliffs, honeycombed into a natural fortress of stone, is the Aerie, home to the Avians--a human-variant race with birdlike adaptations, originally from the Never. Although Avian history is unclear, they appear to be a genetic offshoot of humanity, most likely a society of ancient vikings that became lost in the Never during exploration. They dwelled in a hellish portion of the Never; a coast of neverending storms, pounding rain, magical lightning, and massive beasts. The Avians developed an intense, warlike society of flying nomads. It is believed that the Avians dwelled in the Storm Coast for close to 3,000 years (at least in the Never; only about 1,000 years passed on Earth), until the Event brought them back into our world. The structures of the Avians are a strange blend of magic and technology similar to the technology found in Atlantis. Avians have an agrarian society in modern times, with domesticated animals, and they also hunt for food in the mountains. Game is plentiful in Greenland, much more so than in the Storm Coast. They are isolationist, territorial and tend to attack humans who come too close to their holdings. Dominion City Canada's most recent, and perhaps most unusual, feature is an entire city from another reality. Designed and built by scientists from a parallel Earth (Earth-33, they claim), the floating city became their world's sole surviving haven after a global nuclear holocaust initiated by their world's Bastion. The city's security chief, a nanotech-infused cyborg named Dominion, attempted to raid our universe in order to conquer and resettle his charges. They appeared in August of 2019 and Dominion ultimately "anchored" Dominion City near the city of Nanaimo in the east coast of Vancouver Island. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of heroes from, LHQ, the Guardians and the Canada, Dominion's plans quickly came to naught. The city's governor--their world's version of R.I.T.A., the artificial intelligence designed by Dr. Nefarious--surrendered and after a brief negotiation with the provincial and federal government, Dominion City disappeared--but not for long. The city reappeared, days later, floating above Halifax, Nova Scotia, remaining there for just over a week before disappearing again. Since that time, Dominion City has appeared in places all over Canada, always north of the 49th parallel, but on the Canadian side of the North Pole, and always over land. Experts have a number of theories involving the citiy's initial dimensional shift, quantum instabilities, and magnetic fields (to say nothing of unknown variables like Pawagan and Manitoba). Whatever the case, Dominion City appears in a location, remains there between a day to nearly a month (so far), then vanishes, reappearing somewhere else anywhere from seconds to as much as a month (the longest disappearance) later. To the inhabitants of the city, no time appears to pass between their jumps. Dominion City's technology--and its AI governor--rely on huge "nano-furnaces" to produce swarms of "nanogens", microscopic machines released into the air. This technology supports self-driving cars, flying motorcycles for police and emergency services, and hospitals with regeneration capabilities for those who have spent years exposed to the nanotech; outsiders, with a few interesting exceptions (such as Mercy of the Guardians), are unaffected by the city's nanotechnology.